Factions Backstage Pass Report...

No picture of Gaile Gray?

Very nice stuff guys.

I'm particularly interested in the map you've put together and some of those screenshots of the city. Amazing. I think this is quite a large addition to the Factions information 'jigsaw' building up

EDIT: I'm only guessing, but I'm thinking one of those pictures SoloMio got up could be her.

I don't have the cards to remember the skills I picked BUT I can tell you what I was thinking when I built the monk..

Currently in GW's For PVE or PVP you don't see to many full on heal monks.. You see more of the Boon Healers because healing efficiently is not as important as healing speed. This is very true in PVP. Skills like reversal and Mend condition have vary fast cast and cool down times making the heal monk able to heal allot of high damage attacks i.e. a spike of any type.

The skills they gave us where mostly new when it comes to the monk. And they did not have the current boon, or Mantra of Recall (Mesmer Skill). The elite I chose was a new one that heals around 100 HP with a bonus of +3 energy for every enchant the target has.

The skills I used that are currently in the game where Drain Enchant, Remove Hex, Healing Touch, Orison of healing, Res Sig. That new Elite, and 2 other new heal skills. My problem with the new skills is the problem I have with the current heal skills. Most skills have a long 1 second or more cast time, And a long cool down of 4 or more seconds. The laptop I was on had the full skill list for the Rit unlocked and after going over the skills I think at least for chap 2 Boon prot healers will still be the way to go.

To sum up what we all must do before we can "Grok" Factions I end this with a quote.

"Waiting always fills" -Valentine Michael Smith, Stranger in a Strange Land

Dion Star
The Second Foundation

PS It would make me happy if you sent the monk cards Thank you.

PPS I personally am not to concerned with examining all the new skills just yet. I am sure the game will go through at the very least 2 more big skill balances and who knows what skills will be left in once the dust settles. *I* am more into the new factions concept then the two new classes and skills coming out, and let's not forget the new in game eye candy.

Don't make your mind up quite yet. I raised this issue with Izzy and he's more than aware of the advantages of the fast Prot spells. We do know for sure that a lot of the new skills will be rebalanced - and there's a big difference just between a 1s and 1/2s cast time. Also, as I noted in my writeup, it's very hard to discern the difference between a good skill and a mediocre skill by reading the description - some of those Ritualist skills you're writing off may well be amazing in practice.
Different strokes for different folks. I'm a game mechanics geek so I'm all about the new skill themes. Don't get me wrong - the new areas were amazingly beautiful - it's just not as important to me as gameplay.

Yes, Triple Chop was an Elite. I forgot to say that, I'll update.

Sounded like a great time. Next time Mimi or Dion, pick me and let me crash at your house. I need in on some of the fun too. Can't have all the good times now

I just watched the male 'sin's dance... ....utter hilarity....cant wait to see backup-dancers for it.

added: Scratch that. the female rit has an "interpretive dance" that boggles the mind...awe-inspiriing...

thx for the vids. (too bad there's no music.)

/cant wait for the fem 'sin's and the male rit's.
/Collector's fursure.

Hmm, well, that makes it less of a no-brainer, then.

But as Dion said, way to early to really be commenting on skills yet, I suppose.

I like the Boon healing /necro/Mesmer for energy/Hex/Condition management. CoP makes a weak position Hex and Condition free. When Izzy and I where chatting as he built the Rit his exact words where the Rit can make a great support healer. From what I saw and felt during our turtle map he is correct there is 4 nice slower then I would like heal skills along with a few spirits.

BUT like I said in my post no need to even get my panties in a bind over the skills, who knows what will be in or how they will read until we have the full game in our hands.

THIS time around I am going to keep my eyes open for the next +5 energy long sword of GW's

I still have not gotten a responce on wherer or not I can post video clips than I took with the live band and the hughe GW projection behind them. But I will take that as good news so far. Usually I get an instant NO and some BS reason reguarding rights and such. I think the hold up is with the bands permission. I watched a bunch of the video clips I took and some included game play. I also have pictures of most of the ArenaNet staff members. I will be posting all my stuff this weekend.

I don't remember who it was that talked to Gail but SHE told him it was ok to post Pictures on his fan site. I don't know about the video but I posted all my video on our forum to share with my guild mates. It is a Private forum so I see no harm in it.

Just watched those two vids of the dances of the Assasin and the Ritualist..

The assasin one is just hilarious.. but I actually kinda like the Ritualists ones.. Noticed they are very agile (dance is mix of belly dance + gymnastics show off)

Hey, there. I don't see a request about video clips in my in-box. Please send it to me again. Thanks!

I wanted to answer this one, too: The 1v1 map is for testing purposes only. For instance, if we're checking on a reported skill bug, we have this area to be able to test in a limited setting. That's not to say we won't someday offer scrimmage areas, but as I was telling the guests last night, Guild Wars isn't a duelling-based game but a game of strategy and group gameplay. I think it's unlikely that we'll have serious PvP in a 1v1 setting.

Oh, and we're glad you have a nice time!

Gaile,

What about some form of Heroes accent but 4v4. Don't get me wrong I love TA but once you hit around 120 wins on the same maps over and over and over, only gaining faction, well it can get a tad boring. Some sort of HOH with a prize for holding the top, I feel would be a VERY kewl addition to the game. I am sure many O' people have suggested this before now and I apologize. I am not much of a forum guy. I leave the posting to Glenn.

isn't this the same as shadow strike?

No, Shadow will do an additional 50 damage, not steal..

Re-sent Request

no, pretty sure it steals health..wait it steals health both times. Well I can't see a difference between these skills

no, look...

Shadow Strike - Spell
Target foe takes 12-41 shadow damage. If that foe's health is above 50%, you steal 12-41 health.

No stealing in this skill.. The new skill is like a hybrid of Shadow and vamp gaze.

Time to head home from work

interesting stuff here. was there anything you found about the new pets or anything like that?

We did not do any pet testing... If we had thought about it, we would have.